[UPDATED] Hundreds of SAT Questions Have Been Leaked in a Massive Security Breach

If you've taken the SAT before, you know that the College Board protects the exam questions with ridiculous levels of security. Even bathroom breaks are closely monitored so test-takers can't share answers. But according to a new investigation from Reuters, the security of the exam questions wasn't actually so tight, and that led to a leak of hundreds of questions. It's still uncertain whether the leak will affect people taking the test this fall.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

The investigation cites a consultant's report on the College Board, the company that makes the SAT. In 2013, the consultants said that exam makers hadn't come up with a plan to secure the material for the redesigned college entrance exam. The next year, the College Board expressed worries that too many people could get their hands on questions and answers.

And it turns out the security was a little lax. Journalists at Reuters received hundreds of top-secret test questions and answers from "a person with access to material for upcoming versions of the redesigned exam." Reuters isn't sure how much these leaked items have been shared, but they included 21 reading passages and 160 math problems.

Most Popular

The College Board is now removing any exams with leaked questions from the SAT schedule, just in case any potential exam takers got their hands on the material. It's unclear whether the upcoming SAT, scheduled for October 1, would be canceled or delayed. "[This is] a serious criminal matter," College Board spokeswoman Sandra Riley said in a statement. "A thorough investigation is ongoing, therefore our comments must be limited."

Back in March, it was reported that some students in China and South Korea got access to leaked questions through sketchy methods, and some test prep companies completely reproduced sections of the March 5 exam. But according to this new Reuters report, the new leak is even more serious.

Update 8/4, 1:55 p.m.: The College Board issued a statement assuring members that no stolen content had been distributed to students, so tests will not be affected by the leak. Here's the full statement:

The theft of unpublished test content is a serious criminal matter. The College Board and our partner ETS are responding quickly and deliberately to investigate and resolve this matter. To be clear, this stolen content has not been administered to students. Therefore, no students have or will be impacted by this theft.As the investigation is ongoing, we are limited in what we can share. We want to assure you, our members, that we are taking the stolen test content off the SAT administration schedule while the investigation is under way.We will continue to update our members on the progress of the investigation.